Patrick Marleau asked the Blues if they could top his performance in
Game 2. One Blue stepped forward and decided that it was the right time to have
his best game as a pro. Mike Sillinger's three goals, coupled with solid
defense, lead the Blues to a 4-1 win Monday night in Game 3 of their Western
Conference quarterfinal series with the San Jose Sharks.

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With their back against the wall and facing a possible
three games to none deficit, the Blues were looking for answers to solve a
tough Sharks team, which had only surrendered one goal through two games. It
seemed to be going the same way until midway through the second period, when
Sillinger picked up a lose puck out of the penalty box and broke in alone on
Evgeni Nabokov, beating the goalie five-hole to break a scoreless tie.

Sillinger, who has played for ten different clubs in his career, had never
scored more than two goals in a game. Before Monday night, Sillinger had just
five goals in 30 career playoff games.

St. Louis padded their lead
late in the second, when a shot from the point by Eric Weinrich was deflected
in front of Nabokov by Dallas Drake for a 2-0 Blues lead, heading into the
second intermission.

San Jose finally tallied in the early part of the
third period when Jonathan Cheechoo scored his first career playoff goal. The
goal was disputed, as the goal judge never turned the goal light on. After a
video review, it was found that the puck did indeed get up under the crossbar
to trim the Blues lead to 2-1.

Minutes later, Sillinger struck again.
Streaking down the right side, Drake flipped a pass to the veteran forward, who
beat the Sharks defense, then Nabokov under the arm for a two goal lead.

Trailing 3-1 late in the third, the Sharks had a chance to make it
interesting after Mark Rycroft was called for charging. Coach Ron Wilson
decided to pull Nabokov for a 6-on-4 advantage, but the Sharks could generate
nothing. After a save off a scramble in front, the puck squirted lose to
Sillinger, who capped off his big night with a 175-foot empty net goal, sending
the sellout crowd at Savvis Center intodelirium.

The pivotal Game 4 is
slated for Tuesday night, where the winner will take a huge momentum swing back
to San Jose for Game 5 on Thursday night.

Quotables"My
little boys told me they wanted me to score a hat trick and my wife laughed.
She goes, 'If he ever gets a hat trick we'll fill the house with balloons.
We'll be filling the house with balloons when I get back and see them in
Phoenix, and hopefully it won't be for a while." - Mike Sillinger

"It
was kind of funny to read that the series was over. We won two home games and
now they've come back. Now they'll have something to think about tonight and
come better prepared tomorrow." - Ron Wilson

"They've been working
pretty hard and you have to give them credit. They got two breaks but they
deserved those breaks.'' - Evgeni Nabokov

MilestonesMike Sillinger scored the first hat
trick of his 14-year NHL career.

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